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7 Ways Winnie-the-Pooh Inspires Readers of All Ages
"I knew when I met you an adventure was going to happen," Winnie-the-Pooh famously tells Piglet—which is exactly how many readers felt when they opened up their first A.A. Milne book and met the unforgettable teddy bear and his friends.
Milne's own story is now hitting the big screen with Goodbye Christopher Robin, a film that follows the English writer as he finds inspiration for Winnie-the-Pooh through his relationship with his son, Christopher Robin Milne. With this in mind, we asked Goodreads members on Facebook and Twitter to tell us how A.A. Milne's books influenced their lives. Check out some of our favorite answers below.
1. "The stories have always been a safe place. Even when I'm having the worst day of my life, I can read (or watch) Winnie-the-Pooh and feel a bit better about the world. Sort of like a hug." -Kimi
2. "I read Winnie-the-Pooh this year for the first time. Although I saw the cartoon growing up, reading the words left a bigger impression. Life is not always good, but it is up to me to make it better. You cannot always be down and gloomy." -Marren
3. "It was my first philosophy book at age seven. But I didn't know it then." -Ann
4. "It was an escape into fantasy, yet it was so real—with problems to solve and friends who cared, but weren’t perfect either. And in the end, love prevails in the form of Christopher Robin. It is still endearing to me, and I’m all grown up with grandkids of my own." -Debby
5. "Every childhood should be full of Pooh, and mine certainly was, between the books and the cartoon. As an adult, I came across The Tao of Pooh, which gave me the chance to enjoy Pooh all over again, but from a different perspective." -Patrick
6. "It taught me to have and to hold a hope for a better tomorrow." -Yvonne
7. "I realized it was more than okay to talk to inanimate objects…and even better to imagine their responses." -RydeLibrary
Did you grow up with A.A. Milne's books? Share your own experience with Winnie-the-Pooh in the comments!
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Stephanie
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Oct 13, 2017 01:19PM
My dad read Pooh books to me at bedtime. I also loved watching Mr. French on "Family Affair" read them to Buffy and Jody. Imagine my surprise when these wonderful books showed up on a banned book list because the animals talked and did not wear clothes! This May my family and I had the great experience of seeing the original toys that belonged to Christopher Robin on display at the New York Public Library!
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Well obviously, I'm hugely influenced by Pooh! I remember being read my grandmother's childhood (1920s) edition of Winnie the Pooh. I have fond memories of the Disney TV series The House at Pooh Corner and the Saturday morning cartoon series. As an adult I have come to appreciate the quiet wisdom of the words and the gentle, sweet stories about childhood, make-believe and growing up. I have Pooh postcards, book, toys and other things. My best friends are Tigger and Piglet.One of the best quotes, that is more appropriate as the publishing centennial approaches is “Promise you won't forget me, ever. Not even when I'm a hundred.” No Christopher Robin and Pooh, no one could forget about you.
I was obsessed with Pooh when I was little and the stories are still dear to my heart more than 40 years later. There is an innocence to the stories. Simple and filled with love and wisdom.My husband had to have surgery a number of years ago. The entire time he was in there I paced the floor listening to the audio versions of Winnie The Pooh and The House at Pooh Corner. :)
I grew up reading Winnie the Pooh books and really enjoyed them. I also watch a lot of the cartoons and movies and also the series. Still today as a mother of two grown boys Pooh is still my favorite go too movie or book for comfort.
If you go on a car holiday with your parents and you've got a Pooh book on the backseat, then you can read fluently when you come home. (At least that's what my dad said. I was too young to remember.)
Winnie-the-Pooh is the first "grown-up" book I read for myself. I still have the hardback copy, with the glorious illustrations by E.H. Shepherd, my aunt gave me for Christmas the year I was 6. And I appreciate the humor and wisdom even more now. (The audiobooks narrated by Peter Dennis are sublime!)
Isabel wrote: "In the Kindle era, it seems pretty obvious. There is an implicit argument in the act of digitizing a book and removing it from the shelf: a book is its text. A book is a unique string of words, as ..."Yes you are right
I've loved Pooh Bear for as long as I can remember. Watching Winnie the Pooh makes me forget about all the bad things in my life or the horrible things going on in the world today. He reminds me that friendship and love still exit. Thank you Pooh and all the other lovely friends from the Hundred Acre Wood.
Kinda ironic that the author of Winnie the Pooh hated his own work.....
I was definitely a fan of Pooh! I watched the cartoon repeatedly and religiously whenever it was on and I have still many classic Pooh things from my childhood.
When I was 10, I was in the hospital for three months. On his way to work every night, my Dad read a chapter. I’ll never forget the way Pooh made me laugh.
As a child, I first laid eyes on a Winnie the Pooh book at my neighbor’s. It was a hard cover book with black and white illustrations that I have fond memories of.Years later, a colorfully illustrated Winnie the Pooh book was one of the first story books I bought for my son as he began Play school. I used to read it to him while feeding him lunch and we would imagine that the 100 Acre Wood was the tree filled land behind our house. When I had to send him to Day-Care, I would pack this favorite book of his with his things, so that he would find comfort in the familiar picture pages.
Winnie the Pooh books was and to this day are still my favorite. When I was a kid I loved the pictures, even if I wasn't not big enough to read. I have a beloved Winnie the Pooh who watch all the movies, read the books with me and we have gone on 100's of adventures. I may not have the movies or the books anymore but after 44 years I still have my Winnie the Pooh. He is worn with love and my granddaughter took him out of my cedar chest and put him in her's so one day she can pass it to her children. That really surprised me and touched me all at once.
My Winnie-the-Pooh Library goes with me: Milne's two books of poetry and two books of stories, and also:The Pooh Perplex
The Enchanted Places
The Tao of Pooh
The Te of Piglet
I still have my beloved Pooh Bear sitting on top of my bookshelf. As a child I adored all of the A.A. Milne's books and could recite passages from them. I named my son after Christopher Robin! (Just couldn't imagine a better name for a little boy). And in my recently published novel, American River: Tributaries, two of the main characters call each other "Pooh" and "Roo."
Although I was a reader as a child, I'd never been introduced to Pooh Bear and Piglet. As a college undergraduate, I took several children's literature courses. It was a professor in one of the courses who read Winnie the Pooh to us, undergraduates. She made the characters come alive. I've loved the books ever since and have copies of each book.
At 71, I still treasure the worn set of four books my mother read to me, and to this day I quote phrases from the stories and the poems - often before even realizing where the phrase came from. Perfect example: 'delphiniums blue and geraniums red' from The Doctor and the Doormouse.
My two best friends and I first read the Pooh books when we were freshmen in high school in the 60's! We delighted in the make believe, and just as we had favorite Beatles, we had favorite characters!
My mother read Winnie the Pooh to my two sisters and me before the animated versions were created. She sand the songs in her own invented tunes. It was strange when the tunes were different in the animated versions.
